The idea of Mario fatigue has been wafting through the air recently, thanks to New Super Mario Bros. 2 launching on 3DS this weekend as another 2D Mario, New Super Mario Bros. U, is being prepared for release in a few months at Wii U's launch. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata insists that this won't be a regular thing, however — Nintendo still plans to release just one New Super Mario Bros. title per console.

When Kotaku spoke about the possibility of overstretching the plumber, Iwata admitted that it was strange for two 2D Mario titles to be coming out in such a small time period, but believes the 3DS and Wii U titles are "unique enough" to avoid confusion. The current plan is to continue making one New Super Mario Bros. game per platform, though that could change if Shigeru Miyamoto has a change of heart.

"We only create a New Super Mario Bros. title one per platform," Iwata said, while acknowledging that is unusual and a "challenge" for the company to be making two for the same calendar year, one for 3DS and one for Wii U. "I think we'll probably go ahead and continue at that pace. That being said, that's probably [Mario creator Shigeru] Miyamoto's choice, so I can't give you a 100% guarantee that that's the pace we'll continue at."

Iwata went on to describe Mario as a "quality guarantee", and that Nintendo likes to refer to him as "Mr Video Game" — it wants Mario to be "that guy" who represents gaming on every level. Does that mean Mario's surname is 'Video Game'? "He does not have a last name," refutes Iwata.

I think what Mario has come to symbolize for a lot of people is sort of this quality guarantee. They think, 'It's got Mario. We know that it's a good experience.'"